Sentence likely Wednesday for teenage Mo. killer

By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press
| 4:30 p.m.Feb. 7, 2012

FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2009 file photo, Alyssa Bustamante, 15, listens during a brief hearing where her attorney entered not guilty pleas on her behalf to charges of armed criminal action and first-degree murder in Cole County Circuit Court in Jefferson City, Mo. Bustamante, who admitted stabbing, strangling and slitting the throat of a young neighbor girl, wrote in her journal on the night of the killing that it was an "ahmazing" and "pretty enjoyable" experience — then headed off to church with a laugh. The words written by Bustamante were read aloud in court Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, as part of a sentencing hearing to determine whether she should get life in prison or something less for the October 2009 murder of her neighbor, 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, in a small town west of Jefferson City. (AP Photo/Kelley McCall, Pool, File)
— AP

FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2009 file photo, Alyssa Bustamante, 15, listens during a brief hearing where her attorney entered not guilty pleas on her behalf to charges of armed criminal action and first-degree murder in Cole County Circuit Court in Jefferson City, Mo. Bustamante, who admitted stabbing, strangling and slitting the throat of a young neighbor girl, wrote in her journal on the night of the killing that it was an "ahmazing" and "pretty enjoyable" experience — then headed off to church with a laugh. The words written by Bustamante were read aloud in court Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, as part of a sentencing hearing to determine whether she should get life in prison or something less for the October 2009 murder of her neighbor, 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, in a small town west of Jefferson City. (AP Photo/Kelley McCall, Pool, File)
/ AP

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. 
A Missouri teenager who confessed to murdering a young neighbor girl is described as a "thrill killer" by prosecutors and a mentally disturbed child by her defense attorneys.

Those characterizations of 18-year-old Alyssa Bustamante (boo-stuh-MAHN'-tay) were made Tuesday as a judge considers whether to sentence her to life in prison for the October 2009 slaying of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten.

As prosecutor Mark Richardson was making his closing argument, Bustamante's grandmother stormed out of the courtroom crying. That prompted Bustamante to cry for the first time during the hearing.

Then as the judge was preparing to exit, Elizabeth's grandmother cried out from her wheelchair that Bustamante should not get out of jail until Elizabeth gets out of the grave.

The judge said she would hand down the sentence Wednesday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Prosecutors trying to debunk a key defense theory about why a Missouri teenager killed a 9-year-old neighbor girl relied on the testimony Tuesday from a psychiatrist who said an antidepressant drug played no role in the teen's decision to murder.

Dr. Anthony Rothschild was the main prosecution witness in the second day of the sentencing hearing for Alyssa Bustamante, who has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Elizabeth Olten in a small town just west of Jefferson City.

The young girl was stabbed, strangled and had her throat cut before being buried in a grave that Bustamante admitted she dug before the October 2009 murder. Bustamante, who recently turned 18, was 15 at the time of the crimes and is being sentenced as an adult. She faces a possible sentence of 10 years to life with possibility of parole.

Bustamante's defense attorneys have attempted to build a case that her troubled childhood and the increased dosage of the antidepressant Prozac heightened her mood swings and made her more prone to violence in the weeks leading up to Elizabeth's murder.

But Rothschild said it was "nonsense" to try to suggest that Bustamante was taking too much Prozac, which he said had been proven to decrease hostility and anger in people who like Bustamante suffer from major depression and a borderline personality disorder.

"There is no reliable evidence in the medical and scientific literature that Prozac causes people to commit murder," said Rothschild, a psychiatrist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who has testified in numerous court cases against claims that Prozac causes suicides or homicides.

Rothschild's testimony was a rebuttal to that given Monday in Cole County Circuit Court from Edwin Johnstone, a psychiatrist from Houston who said that Prozac can lead to greater instances of violence, particularly in young females.

Johnstone testified that Prozac was "a major contributing factor" in Bustamante's slaying of Elizabeth.

Also during testimony Monday, Bustamante's grandmother described how the teen had tried to commit suicide on Labor Day 2007 by swallowing a large bottle of Tylenol pills and slicing herself hundreds of times - even carving the words "hate" and "pain" into her arms.

On Tuesday, defense witnesses recounted Bustamante's long history with cutting herself, which was first noticed at the start of her eighth grade year in the Jefferson City school district.

A nurse from the University of Missouri Hospital who examined Bustamante while the teen was in jail last November testified that she had documented well over 300 scars from intentional cuts on Bustamante's arms, legs and torso. Among those still visible scars were a peace sign, two broken hearts and the word "hate," which Bustamante had carved into herself, said nurse Alyssa Neitzert.

Bustamante's body also showed signs of a self-inflicted burn mark, bite, and an attempt to pierce the skin underneath her lips, Neitzert said.

Prosecutors have emphasized the deliberate nature of Bustamante's actions and downplayed any impact from Prozac. They noted that Bustamante dug a hole for a potential grave several days in advance, and on the evening of the killing, sent her younger sister to lure Elizabeth outside with an invitation to play.

They cited Bustamante's written words against her to urge a long prison sentence. In a journal entry on the night of the killing, Bustamante described the slaying of Elizabeth with a sense of exhilaration, using texting-style acronyms.

"I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they're dead," Bustamante wrote in her journal, which was read in court by a handwriting expert. "I don't know how to feel atm. It was ahmazing. As soon as you get over the `ohmygawd I can't do this' feeling, it's pretty enjoyable. I'm kinda nervous and shaky though right now. Kay, I gotta go to church now...lol."